Mars helicopter Ingenuity phones home, breaking 63-day silence

NASA's Perseverance rover can be seen in the background, while rocks and red Martian soil take up the rest of the image.

The Ingenuity Mars helicopter's two-month silent stretch is over.

Ingenuity got in touch with its handlers on June 28 via its robotic partner, the Perseverance rover, NASA officials announced on Friday, June 30. It was the first such communication since April 26, when the 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) chopper went dark toward the end of its 52nd flight on the floor of Mars' Jezero Crater.